Dec. 16 (Bloomberg) -- The idea of drones buzzing the
skies, delivering packages and spreading seeds, has set off a
race among 24 U.S. states to win permission to open testing
facilities to see whether unmanned aircraft can co-exist with
passenger jets.

States from Massachusetts to California are seeking to
build and run centers where private researchers will study how
to operate drones without crashing into planes or houses. The
Federal Aviation Administration, in preparation for a decision
on opening the skies to robots, says it plans to select six
sites this month.

The U.S. has used drones for years to hunt terrorists in
countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan. Now states seek
jobs from research into domestic uses, such as spotting forest
fires, shooting movies, spreading seeds and, as envisioned by
Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos, delivering packages to
homes. Officials say testing sites would attract manufacturers.

“When you have a test site, it really sets you up to
participate in the industry’s growth for a long time,” said
Stephen McKeever, Oklahoma’s secretary of science and
innovation, who is leading an effort to obtain FAA approval.
“It’s likely to be the biggest area of growth in the aerospace
industry in terms of new jobs and new product lines.”

The biggest barrier to widespread U.S. use is the question
of how to prevent them from crashing into 70,000 manned aircraft
flights a day. Residents and some state lawmakers also are
trying to slow the introduction of drones, or limit their
capabilities, saying they threaten privacy.

Starting Small

The FAA has approved about 1,000 permits allowing
noncommercial drone flights and issued orders to those operating
without permits to stop. Congress directed the agency to write
rules for drones weighing less than 55 pounds and to begin
integrating them into airspace by 2015. Lawmakers also called
for the six testing sites.

The FAA said in November that it expects to require small
drones be controlled by a human operator on the ground -- as
opposed to the robotic flights envisioned by Bezos. The craft
must also stay within the operator’s sight and only fly in
unpopulated areas.

There will be almost 250,000 domestic unmanned aircraft in
use by 2035, a study by the U.S. Transportation Department
found. The drone industry says relaxed rules may lead to the
creation of 70,000 jobs in three years. Expenditures on civilian
and military drones around the world are expected to total $89
billion during the next decade, according to a forecast by the
Teal Group Corp., a Fairfax, Virginia-based aerospace research
company.

Luring Companies

“If we build a test site, we think we can attract five or
10 companies across the state involving manufacturing or
services related to unmanned aerial systems,” said Kyle Snyder,
a North Carolina State University official in Raleigh working
with the state economic development agency on a bid. “Our state
is strong in software development and data analytics, and that’s
where we expect to see job growth.”

Texas expects a test site will cost about $50 million over
five years for buildings, equipment and operating expenses, said
Luis Cifuentes, a vice president at Texas A&M University at
Corpus Christi, who is helping the state sell itself.

States, universities or local governments will own and
operate the testing sites. They will charge companies for their
use and collect research grants to supplement money supplied
from state and university budgets, Cifuentes said.

Fallin Lobbying

States anticipate jobs near the sites, said Andrea Bianchi,
program manager for a joint effort by New York and Massachusetts
to locate a facility in each state.

“That’s where the research and development will occur,”
Bianchi said.

Oklahoma is among the most aggressive campaigners, with
Republican Governor Mary Fallin attending aerospace industry
events and lobbying members of Congress, McKeever said.

The FAA has said it will select places with geographic and
climate diversity and will also consider research needs,
population density and air traffic.

Alison Duquette, an FAA spokeswoman, declined to say what
testing would be permitted at the six sites, or whether states
could obtain permission to do similar tests outside those
locations.

American Aerodromes

Companies developing drones expect to “have the
opportunity to operate in the test site space more freely and do
more test flights with more types of systems,” said Todd
McNamee, an airport director for Ventura County, California, and
lead applicant for his region’s bid.

Even so, economic development officials and university
researchers in North Carolina and North Dakota -- among those
being considered to host the six sites -- say they will seek FAA
permission to conduct tests even if they aren’t selected.

Interest jumped after Bezos, in a Dec. 1 interview on CBS
TV’s “60 Minutes,” said his company may use drones to deliver
packages within five years.

Testing will initially focus on fertilizing crops and
rescuing stranded hikers because they involve less risk of
hurting people or property than package delivery does, McNamee
said.

Yet some lawmakers are wary.

Florida, Idaho, Illinois, Montana, Oregon, Tennessee, Texas
and Virginia passed laws regulating drones this year, according
to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a privacy group based in
San Francisco.

Alpine Overwatch

Fallin earlier this year asked an Oklahoma Republican
lawmaker to drop legislation limiting law-enforcement use of
drones, saying it could hurt the state’s chances. Representative
Paul Wesselhoft agreed, though he disputed that the legislation
would affect testing.

Some communities are more concerned over privacy violations
than wooed by the promise of jobs. In Texas, residents and
political leaders in one possible testing location rallied
against the plan. The city council of Alpine, in the western
part of the state near the Mexico border, denied use of its
airport for a testing facility.

“Does that mean you are going to ID cars and people
walking around enjoying their evening and their back yards?”
Mayor Avinash Rangra said. “Is it going to be 24-7? We asked
about use of night vision. The answers weren’t forthcoming.”